


But You Keep Spinning Round Me Just The Same

by Dorksidefiker



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: Divorced parents, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Russell's mom does not take things well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2018-12-21 17:51:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11949510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dorksidefiker/pseuds/Dorksidefiker
Summary: Russell's mother is back in Crown City for a visit.  Things go... poorly.





	1. Chapter 1

Russell’s enthusiasm was infectious, despite Bumblebee’s misgivings.

“Mom’s gonna love you guys!” Russell was practically vibrating with joy. He held up his phone so Bumblebee could see the picture of him with his mother, arms wrapped around each other as they road the Crown City ferris wheel. Bumblebee found himself grinning at the image, crouching down for a better look. Russell took more after Denny in coloration, but he could see the human’s mother in the underlying bone structure.

And she was going to be there for a week.

Russell had been so happy to hear that his mother was coming back from Copenhagen for a whole _week_ , and of _course_ she was gonna meet everyone and it was gonna be great.

Bumblebee wasn’t so sure. His past experiences with mothers told him that they tended to find serious fault with Autobots interacting with children. And there was the whole ‘Robots in Disguise’ thing. The fewer humans who knew about them, the better.

But as Denny had pointed out, there was going to be no way to keep her from finding out, short of keeping her out of the Scrapyard entirely.

Denny, at least, seemed almost as apprehensive as Bumblebee. He channeled it into cleaning up the Scrapyard, making use of Grimlock for the heavy lifting. Bumblebee had helped by making sure that Drift, Sideswipe, and Strongarm would be on patrol when she arrived. He’d deemed a slow approach best, and Grimlock could be overwhelming at the best of times.

If he’d thought sending Grimlock on patrol would have ended in anything but disaster, the dinobot would have been out in the field too.

_I hope she likes dinosaurs._

Russell’s phone beeped. A text alert. “She’s here!”

“Places, everyone!” Denny said, clapping his hands. Fixit hurried into the command center, and Bumblebee herded the grumbling Grimlock out of sight.

The plan was simple enough. Give Russell and Denny a little time, wait for them to give the all clear, and introduce themselves.

It was even working, right up until Sideswipe came roaring through the gate and transformed just as Russell’s mother was releasing him from a tight embrace.

Denny looked like he was about to cry, and Russell’s mother paled visibly, gripping Russell’s shoulder so tightly that the boy cried out in pain.

“Oh baby, I’m sorry!” She pulled him into another hug, not taking her eyes off Sideswipe.

“Moooooom, leggo!” Russell squirmed free, taking his mother by the hand and pulling her along to where Bumblebee and Grimlock where hiding. “I’ve been waiting all summer to tell you what we’ve been doing! Guys, come on out!”

Grimlock nearly ran over Bumblebee in his rush to join in the reunion. Bumblebee tried to present a more dignified image, trying to channel a bit of Optimus’s gravitas. Even the most basic of visual scans made it clear that the human woman was afraid, and Bumblebee wanted to be a calming presence rather than a source of terror. Despite his efforts, his approach was met with wide eyes and a surprisingly expressionless face. The way she positioned herself between Russell and the rest of them was spark breaking, and Bumblebee didn’t think Russell even noticed. He was too busy telling his mother _everything_.

Every now and then, Denny managed to get a word in.

If she heard a word, it didn’t show. While her eyes briefly flickered from one Autobot to another, they finally locked on Bumblebee and stayed there. 

Finally, Russell ran out of things to say, and he looked up at his mother expectantly. Moments ticked by, and Russell’s smile started to fade.

“Mom?”

She ran a hand over her hair dark hair. “I don’t even know where to _start_.”

Denny stretched out a hand. “Pilar-”

Bumblebee’s tank roiled, and Pilar’s expression went from _non-existent_ to _paint stripping_. “ _No_. No, I know _exactly_ where to start.”

There had to be thousands of women named Pilar on the planet. The odds of running into the one Pilar he knew… well, knew _of_... were astronomical.

“Mom?” Russell repeated, sounding even more worried. Pilar took a deep breath, resting a hand on the top of Russell’s head briefly. “I’m not mad at _you_ , honey. I want you to remember that.” She broke away, marched over to her car, and grabbed her phone out of her purse.

“Ms. Clay - uh - Pilar-” Bumblebee moved to do… _something_. What would Optimus do?

What he got was that paint stripping glare.

“ _No. You_ have nothing to say to me. You just stay over there and be quiet.” Pilar waved her phone threateningly at him. The dial tone played a few notes over and over. She sat on the trunk of her car, transferring the glare to the offending phone. “Pick up, you little weasel…”

The repetitive notes cut off abruptly. “ _Pilar, it’s three in the morning,_ ” the man on the other end groaned. “ _There’s no reason-_ ”

“Remind me of the odds, little brother. I’m having a bad day.”

“ _Huh? Oh. Um. The odds of Russell being anywhere near the crap going on in Crown City are three million, twenty-five thousand and eight-to-one. Feel better? Russell’s safe. I’m going back to sleep now._ ”

“Put your glasses on, Rafael. I have something to show you.”

Bumblebee caught a glimpse of a familiar face when Pilar pointed the screen in his direction.

“ _Oh._ ”

“Oh.” Pilar mimicked, her lip curling. “ _Oh_. Oh, don’t worry Pilar, there’s no way Russell’s gonna run into any Autobots. Crown City isn’t Jasper, Pilar! Denny wouldn’t let Russell get involved in anything like that, Pilar!”

“ _It’s not like I sent them!_ ”

“I listened to you when I should have listened to my gut. I knew I should have come home, but noooo. I listened. To you.”

“ _Okay, I get it, you’re pissed. What do you expect me to **do**?_ ”

“I expect you to fix this, genius. Put that big brain to good use for once. Am I clear, Rafael?”

“ _No, but I’ll figure something out. Good night, Pilar. Try not to freak out too badly. _” The call ended as abruptly as it had started.__

__“Too late,” Sideswipe muttered to Bumblebee._ _

__“Let me handle this,” he whispered back. Bumblebee reset his vocalizer and tried to approach again. “Hello, uh, Pilar.”_ _

__She was still on her phone, typing. She glanced up briefly, mouth set in a hard line. “Russell, I need you to pack a bag. Denny can send the rest of your things when I’ve decided what I’m going to do.”_ _

__She sounded calm._ _

__Bumblebee wasn’t fooled. Neither was Denny._ _

__Russell, unfortunately, missed the dangerous undercurrent in his mother’s tone. “What? No! Mom, you don’t understand -- and what does Uncle Rafael have to do with this?” He went to Pilar with wide, pleading eyes, grabbing her arm._ _

__Pilar put the phone aside and took Russell’s hands in her own. “Russell, baby, I know this seems like one great big wonderful adventure to you, but right now I’m living my worst nightmare, and I really need you to _get your things and get in the car_ , okay? No arguing. Just do it.”_ _

__Russell turned to Denny, the court of last resort, and found no help there. “Just… do what your mother says, Rusty,” he said gently. “It’ll be okay.”_ _

__Confused silence reigned in the Scrapyard. Russell slunk off, confused and unable to understand how things had suddenly gone so wrong._ _

__The last time Bumblebee had dealt with anything like this, it had taken an unexpected tornado and very nearly the end of the world to turn things around._ _

__Somehow, he didn’t think Unicron was going to be so obliging this time around._ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bumblebee and Denny have a conversation, Pilar advocates avoidance, and Raf is finally taking his vacation time.

“Mom, we gotta go back.”

Pilar plugged her laptop into the wall. She didn’t look at Russell. She didn’t dare. “You wanna order room service?”

“Mom!”

“This place does those gourmet surf’n’turf-”

“ _Mom!_ ” Russell jumped off the bed and grabbed Pilar’s arm, tugging until she turned. His eyes were red, and there was a little snot trailing from his nose. She plucked a few tissues from the box on the table and started wiping, crouching so she was on Russell’s level and taking hold of his chin. Russell turned away, batting at her hand with a groan.

Pilar let her hand drop. “We’re not going back, Russell.”

“ _Why?_ ”

Pilar dropped the tissues into the trash, avoiding her son’s eyes. “Because they’re not safe.”

“They’ve kept us safe!” Russell insisted. “Bumblebee keeps us safe from the Decepticons! You just… you don’t know them like I do.”

“You’re right. I don’t know them the way you do.” Pilar Rose to her feet, looking down at Russell grimly. “I _do_ know that they brought the Decepticons to my home town. I _do_ know that your Uncle Rafael nearly died multiple times under their… care.” She sighed heavily. “And I know that you’re hurting right now, but I need you to trust me.” She was not, _not_ going to cry in front of him. “It’s gonna be okay, Russell, I promise.”

Russell crossed his arms, and she could see his jaw clenching. Pilar had no doubts he was working up a new argument.

“Your abuela always said food is key to lifting man’s spirits. And they have a fantastic Baked Alaska here, remember? We got it for your tenth birthday. And while we eat,” she conceded, “you can tell me about them.”

If nothing else, she intended to go into the next confrontation well armed.

* * *

 

Bumblebee wouldn’t have said that he was reluctant to seek Denny out. His human host had retreated deep into the scrapyard, and by the time Bumblebee found him, he was sorting through a pile of toasters.

“Small universe, isn’t it.” Denny didn’t look up as Bumblebee approached.

“Yeah, it really is.”

Denny ran a hand along the toaster’s chord, checking for frayed spots, and Bumblebee struggled to find something to say that could make any of this right.

_What would Optimus do?_

“Did you know Pilar?” Denny asked.

Bumblebee shook his helm, settling himself on the ground next to the toaster pile, one arm draped across his knees. “We never actually met, back then. Robots in disguise, you know? Raf would talk about his family all the time, though. I… felt like I knew them.”

“Did he ever mention that Pilar’s kinda high strung?”

“Something like that,” Bumblebee admitted, going for a diplomatic approach. Raf’s description of his sister’s personality had been very unflattering. “Denny, I’m _sorry_.”

Denny finally looked up at Bumblebee. “Y’know, I’d love to blame you for this. It’d be so _easy_ to say it’s all your fault. But that would be a lie.” He set the toaster aside. “Truth is, I knew Pilar was gonna freak out the moment she found out about the whole ‘hunting Decepticons’ thing. I just didn’t think she’d… I thought I’d have time to get her used to the idea of how great you guys are. So she wouldn’t freak out so much. Unfortunately…”

“Yeah.”

“I always figured what happened in Jasper was a terrorist attack or something. She was… always kinda hung up on it. Was that…?”

“Something like that. Decepticons.”

“It was pretty bad, wasn’t it.” Denny plucked another toaster from the pile and turned it over in his hands.

“Yeah,” Bumblebee agreed. “It was weeks before we could go back, and the town… I don’t think it ever really recovered. I had Raf with me. He helped us so much…”

“Ah. That really explains a few things.”

Denny had never sounded so _defeated_ before.

“Do you know Raf very well?” Bumblebee asked.

It was Denny’s turn to shake his head. “I only met him a couple of times.He works for some government think tank in Montana. Didn’t get away much. Nice guy, though. Kinda quiet.” Suddenly, Denny started to chuckle. “Oh God… I _get_ it now.”

“Get what?” Bumblebee asked even as Denny bent double with laughter that was growing more and more hysterical.

“After-” Denny took a gasping breath. “After Rusty was born, Pilar would call Rafael _all the time_ , all hours, and ask him about the odds. All this time, I thouth… I thought she was talking about, like, the odds of his night light shorting out, or him falling out of the crib or something like that. Turns out… she was talking about _you_.”

Bumblebee couldn’t help it. Denny’s hysteria was infectious.

He started to laugh.

* * *

 

“You know I’ve got four months of vacation time coming to me. Yeah, I _know_ this is short notice. That’s why they’re called _emergencies_. No, no one’s dead _yet_... well, you’ve worked with Pilar. Yeah, no, just for a little while. Maybe a week. Maybe a little longer. Look, I can go there, or she’ll come _here_. That’s what I thought. Pam has all my notes. I’ll be in Crown City if you _really_ need me. Bye.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drift's on curbside duty, and Fixit is trying to be helpful.

It fell to Drift to keep watch over Russell and his mother, Of all the Autobots, it was agreed that he was the one most capable of observing the humans undetected and without further provoking the female. Bumblebee had been very insistent on not making matters worse with the Clays, and Denny had agreed that anyone being spotted by Pilar would likely result in someone taking a crowbar to their headlights.

Thusfar, neither Russell nor his mother showed any interest in emerging from their temporary domicile. Drift _had_ caught sight of both of them at the window at various points, but otherwise being assigned curbside duty was allowing him copious time for quiet meditation.

 

"Which one's that?"

Russell rested his chin on his hand, seriously considering not answering. "Hm?"

"Russell Augustine Clay." Pilar turned away from the window, nails drumming on the sil.

Russell winced. His mother almost _never_ pulled out the full name. "... Drift."

"He's not very good at the whole blending in thing, is he?"

"He's just making sure we're okay," Russell insisted.

Pilar snorted. "The little motorcycle had a hologram, so at least it looked like she had a driver. They're _bad_ at being disguised. You know, almost every day for a year, Bumblebee would pick your uncle up right in front of the house, no driver in sight? Right where anyone... _me_ , for example... could see. Tinted windows cover only so many sins.

* * *

 

There was a human at the front gate.

Fixit was dedicated to ignoring him until he went away. Denny Clay had enough problems to deal with. The last thing he needed now was the burden of a customer. He muted the buzzer and resumed watching for Decepticon activity. When the human drove away, Fixit dismissed him out of hand.

When the phone rang, he muted that too, and allowed it to go to voicemail.

When the human climbed over the west side fence, Fixit panicked. His defenses were all designed to fight off Decepticon threats, not humans who couldn't take a hint.

Fixit was loathe to interrupt Denny Clay, but this was clearly a matter that _required_ human intervention.

"Fixit to all Autobots, we have a human intruder at the west wall. Clear the area and alert Denny Clay."

Where was Grimlock? Fixit flicked through the cameras, praying to Primus that the dinobot was _anywhere_ else.

Primus, clearly, was not in a giving mood that day.

At least Grimlock had the good sense to freeze in place. Perhaps the human would believe him to be one of the sculptures Denny Clay collected.

The human paced around Grimlock, hands on his hips. "Wow. Pilar is right, you guys are _really_ bad at this." The human cocked his head to one side. " _Don't_ tell her I said that."

"Okay."

Fixit made a note to have Bumblebee discuss with Grimlock the way statues _didn't_ talk.

"Don't suppose you know where Denny is? Or Bumblebee. Either one."

Grimlock raised his tail, pointing it towards where Bumblebee and Denny were coming from on Fixit's cameras. "Housewares."

The human gave Grimlock's leg a pat. "Thanks."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raf needs coffee, and Bumblebee finds out the full extent of What Pilar Knows (and it isn't good).

"So I tried the bell, and your landline -- I _really_ gotta get your cell, Denny -- but no one was answering." Raf jerked his thumb the way he'd come. "So I climbed the wall. You guys might wanna work on your security a bit. Seems like a pretty big hole. Is there coffee? I got some at the airport, but it was terrible and that was a while ago."

Bumblebee managed to sound only a _little_ defensive when he said, "Humans climbing in isn't usually a problem."

"A hole is a hole."

Denny raked a hand down his face. "Raf, what are you _doing_ here?"

Rad cocked his head. "Well, I got a call from my sister in the middle of the night, y'see, where she told me to fix this little problem she was having. And I figured the best place to start with fixing would be ground zero. Since I'm pretty sure she's just as soon not see me until I have an actual solution." He glanced up at Bumblebee, flashing a tired grin. "Hey, Bee."

"Raf-"

Bumblebee really had no idea where to start. Seeing Raf like this -- grown up, confident, _different_ \-- was throwing him off. Truthfully, Bumblebee wouldn't even have recognized him if Denny hadn't identified him right off.

He looked tired. Tired and rumpled.

Bumblebee reset his vocalizer. "Raf, how much does Pilar know?" Internally, he winced. This was _not_ how he'd pictured a reunion with Raf going.

"All of it."

Bumblebee's tanks roiled; there was something hard and pained in Raf's expression that _hurt_.

"She figured out most of it on her own," Raf went on. "Turns out, she was a lot more observant than I ever gave her credit for." He nudged a piece of loose gravel with the toe of his shoe. "But I told her the rest."

Not good.

"Then why's she freaking out this bad?" Denny asked. :She's got a first hand account-"

"Of how I almost died, Denny. She's got the full story of how close I came to never coming home." Raf looked almost apologetic when he glanced at Bumblebee again. "I wouldn't change a thing, but rolling with you guys was _dangerous_ , and Pilar... well, she's not really the kind to let the danger take a back seat to Grand Adventure." He exhaled loudly. "So anyway, I thought I'd come up here and strategize with you guys, workshop a few ideas before I face the beast..."

"You haven't told her you're in town yet?"

Raf shook his head. "The way she is right now? I don't wanna confront her without an actual plan. She might decide I'm more trouble than I'm worth, since she seems to think this is at least partly my fault."

"That's not fair," Bumblebee insisted.

" _Fair_ has nothing to do with it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raf gets his coffee and Denny gets a history lesson.

There was no escaping the human without Drift giving himself away. She marched across the street, a woman on a mission, and rapped her knuckles on his hood twice. "We're going out," she announced. "We're going to the Olde Town Fish Market, so don't bother following. It's all narrow streets and no cars allowed." She put her hands on her hips. "Personally, I suggest going back to the scrapyard and leaving us alone."

And off she went, back across the street to Russell, and then into a taxi.

"I believe you heard all of that, my apprentices?"

"Yes, master," they chorused.

"I trust you will be discrete?"

"Certainly, master," Jetstorm assured him.

Slipstream chimed in with, "We will not be seen."

Drift pulled out of the parking spot. It would not do to simply disgorge his apprentices on the street where anyone could see them.

* * *

 

"The big problem," Raf said in between gulps of coffee, "is she's never had a positive experiance with you guys. It's all been secrets and Jasper and..."

"'Living her worst nightmare'?" Bumblebee suggested.

Raf nodded. "I was gonna say 'and that weird mnemonic bomb we found in Florida three years ago', but that too." He looked at bee over the rim of his mug. "You guys kinda left a lot of stuff behind. I've been helping with the clean up. So has Pilar, sometimes. Mostly we send her stuff to translate from local historical records, and she doesn't have to get too close. That time... not so much."

Bumblebee winced. "That's... bad."

Raf shuddered. "Understatement of the year."

"A what now?" Denny looked between them, waiting for an explanation.

Raf drained his mug down to the dregs. "A mnemonic bomb is meant to override the processor of a Cybertronian, either to implant new coding or just... wipe the mind. Turns out, they can have some pretty nasty side effects on humans, too. We're talking seizures, memory loss, loss of motor function... The guy at ground zero when it went off's still in a coma."

"So she's got a lot of good reasons to be afraid," Bumblebee said slowly. "Like June."

"Think we could wake Unicron up again so you can stage a dramatic rescue?"

"What's a 'Unicron'?" Denny sounded rightfully suspicious as he refilled Raf's mug.

"Long story, Denny."

Raf was back to inhaling his coffee. "The Great Unmaker, omnicidal possible-god, and the core of our planet. Remember... oh, about twenty odd years ago, that week when we had all those really weird natural disasters? That was him waking up."

Bumblebee ran a servo down his face plate. "Okay, not so long."

Denny was quiet for a worryingly long time. He put the coffee urn aside and stood. "I'm gonna get some burgers. Want anything, Raf?"

"Cheeseburger sounds good."

Bumblebee transformed, lifting the driver's side door in invitation.

"Uh, no, thanks. I think I'll take my truck."

* * *

 

**Can we talk?**

Pilar read the text twice before she spoke. "It's your father."

For the first time since taking him from the scrapyard, Russell perked up. "Yeah?"

**About?**

**All this. Your brother is here.**

She didn't have to ask which one. "Your Uncle Rafael is in town."

Russell rolled his eyes. "Yeah, so?" He leaned over, trying to see the text.

**Will this 'we' include anyone I don't want to see?**

**Just me, scout's honor**

**You were never a scout.**

**I'm on my way in, can we meet?**

It was tempting to say no. Just block Denny's number, forget all about him, and Rafael, about cars that _weren't_. She could just _leave_ , take Russell somewhere far away and abandon Denny to the tender mercy of a lawyer.

**Fish market, by the guppy.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are minicons, and trouble is brewing.

"Master Drift would say that this is a perfect time for meditation," Slipstream noted.

Jetstorm grunted, leaning over the edge of the roof to get a better view. "Our task is to keep watch over Master Russell and his mother."

The task had been considerably more interesting when the humans had been in motion. Moving through the city unseen had been a fascinating challenge as the landscape had changed from ultra-modern towers of glass and steel to older, smaller buildings of stonework. While the older buildings provided more cover, with their many protrusions and crenellations and chimneys. While the increased cover was most useful, if they were in anything less than perfectly concealed, they stuck out like a pair of sore thumbs.

"Are they doing anything?" Slipstream edged closer, watching the ebb and flow of humanity below.

"No," Jetstream admitted.

They sat, and they watched, and they thought. Master Russell had always been open about his adoration for his carrier, sharing with them many stories of late night ice cream runs, and of picking apart badly translated foreign films. He'd spoken with excitement about going entire days where they spoke to each other only in Spanish (which he had then tried to teach to the minicons), and about her teaching him how to win prizes at fairground booths.

They concluded in unison that the entire situation was profoundly unfair.

Life, they both knew, was rarely fair, but that did not mean they had to let it be so.

Jetstorm tapped Slipstream's arm and jerked his helm. Slipstream followed his gaze, locking on to Denny Clay in the crowd.

"Hm."

They watched Russell rush to embrace his sire, but more importantly, they watched Pilar and the expressions that flitted across her face.

Humans could be difficult to understand, but with study there could _come_ understanding. And with understanding could come negotiation.

Out beyond the docks, something exploded in the water.

* * *

 

"Where do you think he went?" Bumblebee could guess, but he needed to say _something_ to Raf.

"To talk to Pilar," Raf said, confirming Bumblebee's suspicions.

"Kind of scared him, didn't we?"

"Oh yeah."

Bumblebee looked at his pedes as if he might find some answers there. "I didn't pick them on purpose or anything."

"Didn't think you did, Bee." Raf stretched his arms above his head. "And I don't think Pilar does either."

"Russell means the world to Denny. I don't want to be the reason he loses him."

Raf actually smiled as he rubbed his eyes. "A little melodramatic, don't you think? Deeny's not gonna _lose_ Russell. Might not get to see him as often, but Pilar's not gonna up and disappear him. If she was gonna do _that_ , they'd already be gone." He looked up. "We'll figure something out."

Meanwhile, noticed only by Fixit, an alert pinged in the command center.

**Author's Note:**

> So ever since I started watching RiD 2015, I've been toying with the idea of Russell and Denny having a connection to the cast from the Prime series, and eventually I latched on to the idea of Russell's mother being one of Raf's sisters. And since Pilar is the only one who was given a name....


End file.
